susan hayward photography : Heart Cupcakes

As Valentine's Day is around the corner, I rummaged through my books and pantry to find a good treat to make. During a mega case-lot sale in October, I bought tons of yellow cake mix, assuming that my husband and sons would request yellow cake with chocolate frosting for their birthdays, a Hayward family tradition that can be traced back generations in the family food genealogy. But they surprised me and asked for decadent raspberry chocolate cake (I've posted the recipe on this blog) instead. "Box cakes just don't taste as good," my husband said. And he's right. But when the mood for cake strikes and time is tight, boxes work just fine.

So with all those mixes and a craving for a treat, yesterday I decided to try something I'd read in a book called The Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyzyn. This idea comes from a Gazette reader by the name of Nancy. Nancy suggested using a marble to create heart shaped cupcakes that look like this:

Isn't that cute? Using Nancy's idea, I'll show you how to make these. With four dozen of these puppies under my belt, I can give you some pointers on what to do. (And what not to do!)

After you've made your batter, take a cupcake liner and fill it half way. DO NOT FILL IT TO THE TOP. Trust me, if you fill it to the top you will not get the heart shape, just a blob. AND TRY NOT TO SPILL BATTER DOWN THE SIDE OF THE CUP or you will be sorry. I'll tell you why in just a minute. I filled the liners in my hand before placing them in the pan to avoid spilling so much. Place a small marble (not a shooter) in each cup, then place the half-filled liner in the pan, arranging the marble between the pan and the liner like this:

If you spill batter down the side it will bake around the marble and you won't get a nice clean heart indentation in the middle and it will look like someone gouged the side with her thumb. Once you dig out the marble from the cake, you will end up ripping the top and creating an imperfect dip in the middle. And that, my friends, would not be the Martha Stewart way, which is to make things practically perfect in every way. Of course, if your philosophy is like mine, you reach a point when you just want to get things done, and if you end up with marbles attached to your cupcakes, no biggie. They will still taste better than the horrible supermarket bakery cupcakes and any rough edges can be camouflaged with frosting reasonably well.

Get the marble all the way down to the bottom of the pan, not resting on the edge of the cupcake liner. The farther down you get your marble and the more careful you are to fill your cups half way or even less, the better the heart shape you will get. Bake these as you would normally, without altering the time. Oh, and make sure you use glass marbles. The plastic marbles from that old Hungry Hungry Hippo game will melt!!

While the cupcakes bake, make your

frosting

I have found that if you add a bit of homemade frosting to a mix cake you can almost fool people that the whole thing is homemade. I know that food manufacturers have led thousands of us to believe that a can of frosting is the way to go, but I'm here to tell you that canned frosting tastes kind of funny. At first bite, it's good. Then you realize the color's off a bit and there's a chemical lurking in there somewhere. And you can't taste butter. Please do not use shortening in frosting. Just don't. Shortening is hydrogenated oil. It is not butter. And don't use margerine. Use butter. Not butter flavored margerine. BUTTER.

I didn't have milk, so I substituted cream instead. And it turned out just fine--although I could have used more butter!

2-3 cups powdered sugar

6 (or more) tablespoons butter at room temperature

5 tablespoons whole milk, or cream, or evaporated milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix it all together. If your powdered sugar is kind of lumpy, stir it with a whisk for a minute before you add everything else.

I like to put my frosting in a decorating bag with a large-ish tip to frost cupcakes. First I make an outline of the cupcake, then a few squiggles in the middle, and finally smooth it all out with a small icing spatula. This method makes a clean edge and a creamy smooth middle. When I've tried to apply frosting with a knife, it comes out looking choppy. It also helps to keep a glass of hot water nearby to dip your spatula into every so often to keep it clean and to soften the frosting as you apply it. You can add sprinkles or leave the tops naked.

Bon Appetit!